DPM - Barisan Nasional victory in Galas a good sign that people in Kelantan are welcoming the coalition

Published: Friday November 5, 2010 MYT 5:18:00 PM
Updated: Friday November 5, 2010 MYT 5:27:13 PM

DPM - Barisan Nasional victory in Galas a good sign that people in Kelantan are welcoming the coalition

KUALA LUMPUR: Barisan Nasional’s victory in the by-election in Galas is a good sign that the Kelantanese are beginning to accept the coalition again, said Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin.

He added many people had said that it was difficult to win over the Kelantanese because they tended to favour PAS but the results of the by-election showed that people had behaved rationally by choosing Barisan.

“The result, as we expected, was excellent,” he said during the MIC president and central committee members Deepavali open house here Friday.

On Thursday, Barisan reclaimed its former stronghold in Galas with a majority 1,190 votes. Its candidate Abdul Aziz Yusoff garnered 5,324 votes while Dr Zulkefli Mohamed of PAS, 4,134 votes.

Muhyiddin said during the by-election campaign, he had taken the opportunity to correct the misperception that people had against Barisan, including fatwas that had been issued by PAS against it and the allegation that there was a lack of development in Kelantan.

On whether Barisan was ready for the 13th general election, he said the coalition could not predict victory with just one success in Galas and there were still many things that they still need to work on.

“Barisan can’t take things for granted, we still have a lot to do,” he said. Muhyiddin also said support has also increased from all the races

“This is only the first step. We cannot be assured that the trend will continue and we have to work harder,” he added.

MIC vice-president Datuk Dr S. Subramaniam said the victory in the Galas and Batu Sapi by-elections showed that people are accepting the transformation that is going on in the Barisan coalition and the 1Malaysia principle.

“In Galas, the Malay and non-Malay voters had given strong support to the Barisan, and this is good because it showed that the people are beginning to accept the changes that are taking place,” he said.

Dr Subramaniam said he already had the confidence that many of the 180,000 Indian voters there would support Barisan.

“They believed that Barisan is serious in solving their problems,” he added.